Peter Kennedy
LDS Homework 7

Most individuals who are asked the common question, “ How far should units or people go to make sure that no one is left behind?” would answer by stating “ until that individual’s personal life or health is harmed.” This is a common answer that a non military involved individual might answer or a non team oriented person might answer. But if you ask this to a military man or women, there answer 9 times out of 10 will be to do what’re it takes, to never leave anyone left behind. In this film, Black Hawk Down, it is portrayed and illustrated through the actions of all the soldiers accompanying the operation. The selflessness shown by the individuals in that mission can teach individuals everywhere, about the true meaning of perseverance, and the true mental and physical toughness required to be in the armed forces. I personally believe in that the “no one left behind” lifestyle and saying is very important and something to live by. Being a part of multiple teams and organizations in my life I have learned to value team and the actions worked together by others on the attempt at a common goal. Teamwork, and being a part of a team has taught me that you not only win and celebrate as a team, but you also lose and mourn as a team. The sacrifice necessary to be part of a sports team is incomparable to those involved in the armed forces and in the movie Black Hawk Down, but has taught me to understand the mentality that those men have in order to never leave a downed soldier behind.

Peter Kennedy
LDS Homework 6

While watching the film, A Few Good Men, many different types of soldiers and serving men are portrayed and displayed. There is Col. Nathan Jessep who is an example of a relentless leader (Jack Nicholson) who eats, sleeps, and bleeds the military and toughness, and there is Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) who is also mentally tough but believes there needs to be justice where it is due and regulations on certain military actions and protocol. These two men are very important characters and contributors to the topic of discussion of, the military considering itself “better” than the population it protects. As the movie begins to climax towards the end with Col. Jessep on the stand, and Lt. Kaffee the questioner in court, you start to see the true personalities of each of the men. When brought up in charges, Jessep screams back at the defendant and the courtroom that they couldn’t last a day in his shoes as a military man. Erupting with rage, stating that normal civilians simply cannot do what he does and they are in no position to be placing charges on him. This is a prime example of Col. Jessep believing he is above or “better” than the civilians be protects.
Another issue which led to the courtroom argument, is the action of hazing or group discipline. There are many pros to this action but with those pros, also come some significant cons. For example, group discipline, especially in the Armed forces, I believe is a complete necessity into shaping and molding the men and women, to not only be physically strong, but mentally unbreakable. Although group discipline in the military is said to be a necessary and a standard, it comes with many downfalls as well. Sorting out the mentally and physically tough men and women for the armed forces is definitely a important factor but one of the cons of this discipline could be emotional physical and even mental damage. Agreeing with Lt. Kaffee’s beliefs and opinions on that everything needs regulation and moderation, can tie into the fact that there is certain cons of this hazing or discipline. A primary example of a very serious and even fatal consequence of it is portrayed in the film as former marine Santiago is hazed to death by two Marines that were given the order by Col. Jessep. Although I believe that group discipline is a necessary action in the armed forces, I also agree with Lt. Kaffee with the fact that there should be regulations and moderation to these actions.

Peter Kennedy
LDS Homework 1 Make-up
In the film, Patton, both leaders Bradley and Patton are portrayed in contrast to each other to illustrate their two different styles of leading. George S. Patton was one of the nation’s greatest leaders of all time and his accolades truly shined in his commanding years during WWII. Patton has given many speeches to his troops and soldiers to prepare them mentally for battle. Patton represented America and Freedom with everything he did and led with an iron fist. A speech he gave to his troops in the film, began with, “Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser…” Although his speeches and styles of commanding were meant to help shape soldiers mentally and create mental toughness, the war simply left some soldiers shell-shocked and unable to perform. This is shown in another scene where it illustrates Patton’s relentless and strong willed leading. As Patton confronts one of his soldiers who decides the war is not for him and he cannot continue to carry on, he simply calls the man a “coward”. Patton sees the man as being mentally weak and deciding to le this country down. He punishes the soldier by slapping the helmet off the crying man’s head violently. Patton’s eyes stayed on the prize of winning this Great War and wasn’t considered with casualties of his own men as much as other generals. Omar Bradley, on the other hand, led with a different demeanor, and a different style. Unlike Patton, Bradley never assaulted his soldiers and commonly bumped head and disagreed with Patton’s decisions. Bradley valued the preservation of his soldier’s lives with every action he commanded. General Bradley was often called “The Quiet Infantry Man” although he was known the explore territory right there with his men and travel in an ordinary jeep. He got the most out of his men with patience and good will. A personal relationship with a number of his men was valued by Bradley and he believed it was the way to lead and command his troops.

Saving Private Ryan Reflection

The most basic instinct of all life on earth is self preservation. No life form on earth wants to put their own life on the line in order to protect others except one, human beings. The thing that makes humans different than all other life on earth is the fact that we will willing risk our own life in order to protect others we care for. This happens very often in war. It is typical for people to say a soldier risks his life for his country and everyone back home. It is harder to risk your own life when the people you are risking it for are not even present. This is why people consider soldiers to be heroes. In reality, the soldiers on the front line are risking their life for their comrades that are fighting right next to them at that very moment. There is evidence of this in Saving Private Ryan when Captain Miller is on the Normandy beach and he drags the body of a soldier to safety even though he exposes himself to machine gun fire while doing this. This act goes against all instinct, but he did it anyway because he is fighting for his comrades. An example of a soldier not doing this is near the end of the film when Upham is outside of the room where Mellish is being killed, but he is too scared to go save him because he instinct of self preservation is too strong. War is a terrible thing and it asks people to do very hard things. Only soldiers put in that situation would know the true feeling of tension between self preservation and obeying orders.

Peter Kennedy

A Bridge Too Far Reflection

Airborne Commanders Comparison

Throughout the film, the four main Airborne Commanders, Taylor, Gavin, Urquhart, Sosabowski, are all given command over their troops in pursuit of achieving the same goal, winning World War 2. All four of these men were involved in the “Market” aspect of the operation which referred to all the airborne commanders and men to seize bridges and other terrain. Major General Maxwell Taylor is the commander of the 101st Airborne Division and was the first of the allied generals to land his men on the Normandy beaches on D-Day. Taylor’s assignment for his men was to drop in two locations just north of United Kingdom to take the bridges northwest. Taylor’s conniving, and diplomatic skills on top of his foreign language skills, is what helped him to be known as a great commanding general during the Second World War for the United States. Brigadier General James M. Gavin, or known better around the military as “Jumpin Jim”, was commander of the 82nd Airborne Division subdivision Force A which covered the parachuters. Gavin’s was known as a passionate commander and had a very focused view on the tasks at hand. He believed not only tricking the enemy was key, but to flat out destroy them was more important. Next is Major General Roy Urquhart. Commanding the 1st Airborne a Division in the Normandy Operation Market Garden plan, Urquhart was given orders to drop his men in Arnhem in a desperation to secure the River Rhine. Urquhart commanded his troops with passion and aggression that would later earn him the Dutch Bronze Lion for his courageous and heroic actions as a general. Urquhart, put in the horrid circumstances he was in, commanded with not only brute force which helped keep them alive for nine days, but with intelligence, that not only kept himself alive, but a portion of his men alive. Last but not least there was Polish Brigadier General Stanislaw Sosabowski. Sosabowski was a persistent leader and was known as a fighter. After attempting to cross the Rhine three separate occasions and failing, he did not give up. He was a ruthless leader that never let his men down. He was known to get the assignment and task done no matter the circumstances.

In this LDS class I want to learn many interesting facts and things dealing with the military and wars. I want to learn certain successful and unsuccessful battle tactics and strategies that some generals have used in specific wars. I want to meet new people and be able to discuss these newly learned facts with my peers.

I am an 18 year old student-athlete at Stony Brook University. Member of the football teams he play the Tight End position. Born and raised in Northport, Long Island by my two parents, Tim and Sue. I have two brothers, one older, Tom, and one younger, Mark. My older brother Tom, attends Villanova University, and my brother mark, attends Northport Highschool. I am a freshman here at Stony Brook and live on campus.i graduated Northport HS in 2014 and competed on the basketball, baseball, and football teams while a student at Northport.

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